Improvement in operating prison-doors



. SSheets-Sheet 1 R. RICHTER.

OPERATING PRISON-DOOR.

N 170,400 Patented Nov. 23,1875.

"a lllllllllllll li IIIIIIHIIIH W Jab hi) um.

NFETERS. PHOTO-LITMOGRAPnER. WASHINGTON D. C.

Attorney 8 BSheets -Sheet 2.. R. RICHTER. OPERATING PRISON-DOOR.

N.170,4o'0. PatentedNov.23, 1875.

WITNESSES flit J dag J10]: @Q M By Mp4 M Attorne 1 NPETER$,'PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D c.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3. R. RICHTER.

OPERATINGPRISON-DOORf No.170,400. Patented Nov. 23,1875.

WITNESSES Q t I IJV'VEJVTOR %W%%.B. W)

I t S N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. D c.

STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

RUDOLPH RICHTER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HISRIGHT TO JOHN E, THOMAS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN dPERATING PRISON-DOORS Specification forming part ofLetters Patent No. 170,400, dated November 23, 1875; application filedOctober 21, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH RICHTER, of Indianapolis, in the county ofMarion and in the State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Prison- Doors; and do hereby declare that the followin gis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference markedthereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to mechanisms for opening and closing doors forcells in jails or other prisons; and it consists in the construction andarrangement of mechanism whereby the guard from the guard-room can openand close any one or more, or all cell-doors, as desired, and also openand close the vestibule and inside doors at will, as hereinafter morefully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, in which-Figure 1 shows the guard-room, vestibule,

. and inside doors and mechanism connected therewith. Fig. 2 shows oneside of the cellroom with the mechanism connected with the doors of thecells. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the mechanism connected with thevarious doors. Fig. 4 is a detached view of a part of the mechanism.

A represents the guard-room of a jail or other prison, in which themechanism for opening and closing the various doors is situated. B Brepresent the doors of the cells, each of which is securely fastened toan upright rod or shaft, at, having suitable bearings on the outside ofthe door-casing. The shaft a extends downward for a suitable distancethrough the floor, and rests in a step, b. On the lower end of the shafta is placed loosely a cogwvheel, O, and immediately on top thereof is adisk, D, secured to the shaft. On top of the disk D is a frame, in whichis placed a vertical pin, 01, having a flange or collar, 6, beveled onits under side, as shown in Fig. 4. The lower end of this pin passesthrough a hole in the disk D, and is to drop of its own weight into ahole, a, in the cog-wheel G. This cog-wheel gears with a horizontalrack-bar, E, into which also the cog-wheels connected with all thecell-doors B are meshed. This rackbar extends the entire length underthe cellroom and under the guard-room A, where it meshes with acog-wheel, G, upon an upright shaft, f, which extends upward into theguardroom, and has a handwheel, H, secured upon its upper end. Irepresents a T-shaped lever, pivoted at the junction of the three arms,and the inner arm is forked to pass under the beveled flange e on thepin d, when the disk D is turned to a certain point. the lever I has aprojection, 73, extending under a vertical sliding bolt. h, placed inthe door-casing at the outer end of the door. This bolt has two or morebooks, 3 which enter slotted-or mortised ears It It, that enter holes inthe casing when the door is closed, the bolthooks thus locking the door.The lower or middle arm of the lever I is, by suitable connecting-rods mm and elbow-levers n a, connected with an upright rack-bar, J, in theguard-room, where said rack-bar is placed in suitable guides, andoperated up and down by means of a cogged lever, K.

Each and every door B is provided with a mechanism precisely the same asabove described, with the exception that only one rackbar, E, isnecessary for all the cell-doors on one side of the cell-room.

The operation of this part of my invention is as follows: The doors Bbeing all closed and the bolts h down by their own weight, the levers Kare turned down to raise the rackbars J, which causes the levers I toturn on their pivots, so that their inner ends will raise the pins d outof the holes .19 in the cog-wheels 0, thus disconnecting the doorsentirely from r the operating mechanism. By raising one or more of thecogged levers K, the corresponding T-shaped levers I will be turned soas to simultaneously raise the bolts h by their projections i, andconnect the corresponding doors with the operating mechanism by allowingthe pins d to drop into the holes a on the cogwheels 0. By now turningthe hand The outer arm of v wheel H on the shaft or stafl'f, the doorsthus connected with the operating mechanism will be opened.

By a reverse motion of the parts these doors a. are closed and locked.

It will thus be seen that the guard can, from hisplace in theguard-room, open and close any one or more, or all, of the doors at onetime. i

L represents the vestibule-door, and M the inside door. The inside doorM slides upon rollers, and has at its lower end, below the floor, arack-bar, 12, attached to it, which gears. with a cog-wheel, N, placedloosely upon the, shaft s, to which the vestibule-door L is secured, andby which it is hinged. To the shaft s,'immediately above the cog-wheelN, is secured an arm, 0, with a frame on the outer end, in which isplaced a vertical pin, (1, with beveled collar or flange e, to drop downof itsown weight into a hole, as, "in the cogwheel N, when both doors Land M are closed.

When in this position the forked end of a .piv

oted lever, I, passes under the beveled flange or collare of the pin 01,this end of said lever being made the heaviest, so as to .hang down andnot raise the pin. Within the'guard-room A is a vertical sliding bar, P,which, when moved downward, strikes an arm, t, project ing from arocking bar, '0, and another arm," w, projecting from thesamierocking'bar, bears down on the outer end of the lever I, therebyraising the pin d out of the hole in the cogwheel N. The doors L and Mmay then be opened independent of each other. At the side of the slidingbar I is another sliding bar, P, which, when the door M is closed, ispressed down and enters a hole, 2, in the cogwheel N, and locks thesame. On theshaft f,

2. The combination of .thedoor B, shaft a.

disk D, pin (1, with beveled flange e, and cog-. wheel 0, with hole as,as and for the purposes herein set forth.

3. The combination, with aseries of doors,

B, and mechanism for connecting the same with the cog-wheelsO, of therack-bar E, wheel G, shaft f, and hand-wheel H, substautiallyas and forthe purposes herein set forth.

4. The combination, with the door B, shaft a, disk D, and 'pin d, of thelever I, connections m a, rack-bar J, .and cogged lever K,

substantially as andfor the purposes herein setforth.

5. The combination, with the doors L of the rack-bar p, cog-wheel N,shaft 8, with arm 0 and pin (1, lever O, sliding bars P P, and

rockingbar o, with arms t 14;, substantially as and for the purposesherein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this7th day of May, 1875.

RUDOLPH RICHTER.

Witnesses:

W. A. :SKINKLE,

WM. L. BRAMHALL.

